Bears stomp all over Stanford's toes

OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Published 4:00 am, Monday, March 4, 1996

BERKELEY - On that springy, bouncy Harmon Gym floor, Cal did its slam-dance for an invitation to the Big Dance.

The Bears staked one more claim Sunday for a spot in the NCAA Tournament field with an 85-69 thrashing of Stanford to close out their home season. They avenged an earlier loss and in the process dealt a blow to the Cardinal's own postseason hopes.

These certainly aren't the same old Bears of a year ago that stumbled to a 13-14 record and closed out the year with a whimper. These, in fact, aren't even the same old Bears that three weeks ago seemed destined for another season of disappointment.

A year ago, Cal lost nine of its last 11 games and went 5-13 in the Pac-10, including a dismal 1-5 conference record at Harmon.

After Sunday, though, they are 17-8, 11-5 in the conference and alone in third place, and 7-0 on the Harmon floor.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim had his fourth 30-plus-point game, scoring 31 and perhaps locking up both the Pac-10 freshman and player of the year honors. He made nine of 11 shots from the field, 13 of 14 from the line and had nine rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. Ed Gray, bidding to become the conference's newcomer of the year, chipped in 27 points.

"Coach didn't mention the NCAA Tournament (implications), but in the back of our minds, we knew if we lose this game, it'll be hard for us to make it," said Abdur-Rahim. "It's just a game we had to win."

"I don't know why people keep saying we don't have quality wins," he said. "This isn't the SWAC, the MEAC or the WCC. This is a tough conference and it's tough to win on the road. We're a power league and we deserve to have a number of teams in the NCAAs."

While Cal takes its four-game winning streak to Arizona and Arizona State, Stanford must ponder what it must do to save its once promising season. The Cardinal (17-10, 10-6), losers of three of their last four, are headed for two places that appear to be burial pits: Stanford has lost 11 straight at Arizona and six straight at Arizona State.

The Cardinal, who routed Cal, 93-79, at Maples Pavilion on Jan. 31, couldn't duplicate that intensity or keep Abdur-Rahim in check. The Bears denied the Cardinal outside shots, forced 20 turnovers and got the ball to their sterling freshman forward, who was considerably better than his 13-point, two-rebound outing in the previous meeting.

"We couldn't move, we couldn't get penetration," Montgomery said. "They were ready with the blocks and just played good, hard defense. We are depending on a few players to make plays, and when those people don't, we have trouble."

The Stanford backcourt tandem of Brevin Knight and Dion Cross shot a combined 3-for-13 and committed nine turnovers. The Cardinal made only two of 11 of their 3-point attempts.

"The game plan was no different than the one we had the last (Stanford) game, we just executed better," said Bozeman. "We were the aggressors. We want to attack them. That's when we're at our best."

The Bears have been at their best since a 60-58 loss at Oregon in which they blew a 14-point lead in the second half.

"We kind of hit the bottom at that point," said Bozeman.

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"I was disappointed. I was down. But I thought we were doing the right things and we just had to keep at it. . . . Sometimes you can learn from a loss. We might not be the same team today had we not lost that Oregon game."

his shoulder into a surprised Darren Allaway of Stanfor&lt;

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